1. Field of the Disclosure
The present invention relates to an apparatus for indicating pest activity and, particularly, but not exclusively, to an apparatus for indicating insect pest activity. Further particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus for indicating activity of insects of the family Cimicidae (in particular Cimex lectularius (commonly known as “bed bugs” and referred to hereinafter using this expression)). Also, the present invention relates to a pest activity reporting system incorporating the apparatus and an activity sensor for use in the apparatus or system.
2. Description of Related Art
Bed bug infestations are becoming an increasingly common problem in many areas of the world. Treatment of such infestations currently relies upon a pest control technician attending sites of reported pest activity, or inspecting sites where pest activity may be likely, and employing a suitable pest control technique to treat the infestation. However, such treatment is reliant upon the skill level of the pest control technician who would look for evidence of bed bug activity, or for the bed bugs themselves. Since bed bugs are parasitic insects which feed on the blood of warm-blooded animals, their excreta typically contains blood. Therefore, evidence of bed bug activity may present itself as, for example, visible excretion “spots”.
In providing a pest control service, a contractor is generally required to provide regular service visits to a client's premises in order to inspect for the presence of any pests and to carry out any pest control measures found to be necessary. As an example, a pest control technician might normally visit a client once every four to eight weeks for this purpose although a substantial number of these visits may result in no further pest control measures being required.
In the event that evidence of pest activity is discovered during the interval between service visits, a client may have the option to request an additional visit from a pest control technician in order to address the problem. However, especially in premises which are not continually inspected, a pest could conceivably be at large and undetected for some time between routine visits. This may have drawbacks because even a relatively temporal incidence of pest infestation may have the potential of causing severe problems such as the spreading of disease or otherwise damaging the client's business. Furthermore, even in premises where inspections are frequent, monitoring of pest activity is reliant upon manual interpretation of evidence of bed bug activity or observance of bed bugs themselves. If either of these things goes unnoticed, whether simply through being overlooked by the pest control technician or being missed through inexperience of the pest control technician, then the infestation could potentially continue untreated for some time.
Bed bug traps exist which take advantage of an aspect of bed bug physiology which allows them to climb textured surfaces, but prevents them from climbing smooth surfaces. These types of trap are generally of a form comprising an access region and an entrapment region. The access region comprises a surface which is sufficiently textured so that a bed bug can climb the surface. This facilitates access to the trap for the bed bug. However, a surface surrounding the entrapment region is generally sufficiently smooth so that a bed bug, having accessed the entrapment region, cannot climb the surface and becomes trapped in the entrapment region.
Bed bug traps of this type may be useful in preventing bed bugs from reaching potential hosts. Also, by trapping bed bugs using such traps, observance of bed beg activity may be improved because the traps may provide a focal point for a technician during inspection of premises. However, traps of this type often are not preferred by businesses due to the fact that bed bugs may be visible within the trap. This may be particularly relevant where the business is a hotel, and where any visible signs of bed bugs themselves may be off-putting to hotel guests.
It will be appreciated that there may be a delay between disappearance of a pest infestation and removal of the traps by a pest control technician from a location where they were laid to combat the infestation. For businesses in the hotel industry, the presence of pest traps in hotel rooms may be off-putting for guests, even if such traps are empty, an infestation has disappeared, and the traps are simply awaiting removal. Also, should the pest infestation return to a location, there may be a delay between noticing, by business staff or customers, that the pest infestation has returned and the arrival of a technician at that location to treat the infestation.
Whilst the above-described pest traps and methods of pest control may have been satisfactory and may continue to be satisfactory for certain situations, the applicant has recognised that it may be desirable to reduce a time delay between commencement of a pest infestation or pest activity and treatment of the pest infestation or activity. Furthermore, the applicant has recognised that it may be desirable to provide an indication of pest infestation or activity which reduces the reliance on manual interpretation of signs of a potential pest infestation problem. Also, the applicant has recognised that it may be desirable to provide an indication of pest infestation or activity which could be effective in short-term incidences of pest infestation in which activity does not persist for any great length of time and which activity may go unnoticed due to the time period between inspections by a pest control technician.
Aspects and embodiments of the present invention have been devised with the foregoing considerations in mind.